Antidepressant may help reduce migraine frequency

If you're among the one in 10 Americans who regularly suffers from migraines, you'll know that pain relief sometimes isn't enough. In fact, overuse of pain relievers can make symptoms worse. Migraines are more than just bad headaches; symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light, and changes in vision that can last hours or even days if not treated, which can be debilitating. To help reduce symptoms, many people are often prescribed drugs to prevent a migraine from occurring.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved four drugs to prevent migraine headaches: two beta-blockers, propranolol (Inderal and generic) and timolol; and two anticonvulsant drugs, topiramate (Topamax and generic) and valproic acid (Depakote and generic). Another group of drugs, called tricyclic antidepressants, are also prescribed for migraines even though they're not approved by the FDA for this purpose. They include amitriptyline, doxepin, imipramine, nortriptyline, and protriptyline. (Doctors can legally prescribe almost any medication "off-label," that is, for a use they deem appropriate.)

Of these tricyclic antidepressants, one drug, amitriptyline, has been studied more frequently than the others, and is the only one in this class that has consistently been found in clinical studies to reduce the frequency of migraine attacks.